Laruaville 13 Match 3 Puzzle Reviews

115 new M3-puzzle fusions where you have to deduce the order of operations for removing obstacles in the playfield in order to collect all the coins. The developer has a huge box of tools to use in level design, so there's enough variety that it doesn't get old. As with earlier games in the series, there is one new obstacle introduced in this one. Lots of minigames - mahjong, slider puzzles, spot the difference, but only 2 HOS. The gameplay's pretty good, but observant players will note that one level was duplicated, so even though there are actually 116 levels, 2 are identical except for a slight variation in one obstacle piece. I also just can't get into the usual Laruaville soundtrack with this installment being a "darker" one using vampire characters. Don't play it for the story either, because it's got historical inaccuracies, typos, and just seems stupid with trying to make Dracula seem like a nice guy after he's died. The level replay feature now works for all the different level types, although if you finish the game, picking the M3 level replay option will still give you a random level at the start. You'll have to use the arrowheads at the top of the screen to scroll to whatever level you want from there. Recommended for those who like a little challenge in their M3 games, but nothing extreme.

This is the first time I've played this franchise, and it will definitely be my last. The game play is okay, but I'll tell the things that bothered me (keep in mind, I've not played a Laruaville before). First, I couldn't tell how many levels there were in the game. I'm a person who likes to know how many levels I have to complete. I now know there are 116 - and what's up with that number? It's such an odd number...why not 110, or 120? The the play is easy to understand and it moves quickly enough, but it seems very repetitive with too little challenge and variety - put drops in the vial, move keys to locks, break rocks, collect coins, spread fire, yada, yada - over and over and over. After three rounds of the board, you play a mini-game, another three rounds, then another mini-game. The two mini-games I saw the most of were Mahjong and Sliders. Sliders I could play all day - totally love them and you don't see good ones very often. However, Mahjong to me is like the song "White Christmas" - over played and over sung to the point of loathing. Occasionally there is a Spot the Differences thrown in - another dreadful thing which should be abandoned by the gaming industry (imo). Coins are used to purchase housing items for whoever the guest ghost of the moment is, and the items slowly increase in price. I had purchased all of the properties by level 90, so that left me to play all the other levels (26), with no purpose, except to play more Sliders (yeah!) and more MahJong (nooooooo!) So why did I recommend this game. Well, I figure if there are at least 13 of them, the Franchise must have some type of following, and since this is my first time, what do I know? But it does seem that most of the work on the levels is done by pre-determined bombs/game elements, and that makes the game very easy, perhaps too easy.